Journal of Building Engineering 65 (2023) 105720

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Journal of Building Engineering

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jobe

Effect of environmental conditions on the volume deformation of

cement mortars with sewage sludge ash
Chunping Gu a, b, c, Yuzhu Shuang a, Yongjie Ji d, Haixia Wei a, Yang Yang a, b, *,
Yanwen Xu a, Rusheng Qian a, b, Dong Cui e, Hangjie Zhou a
a College of Civil Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, 310023, China
b Key Laboratory of Civil Engineering Structures & Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Technology of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang University of Technology,
Hangzhou, 310023, China
c Zhejiang Construction Investment Group Co., Ltd., Hangzhou, 310013, China
d China United Engineering Co., Ltd, Hangzhou, 310056, China
e Department of Civil Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing, 210094, China

ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT

Keywords: Sewage sludge ash (SSA) is obtained from wastewater sludge incineration, and it can be recycled
Sewage sludge ash in cement-based materials. The environmental conditions show significant influence on the vol-
Volume deformation ume deformation of cement-based materials with SSA. So in this study, the effect of environmen-
Environmental condition tal conditions on the volume deformation of mortars with SSA was investigated, and the underly-
Microstructure
ing mechanism was preliminarily studied with isothermal calorimetry, X-ray diffraction (XRD)
and thermogravimetry (TG). The results indicated that, under seal condition, SSA caused obvious
expansion after the rapid shrinkage at very early age, and reduced the 28d autogenous shrinkage
of mortars. Under drying condition, the addition of SSA enlarged the drying shrinkage of mortars.
Under water immersed condition, the mortars expanded before the age of 7d, and more SSA led
to more obvious expansion. The addition of SSA resulted in more ettringite formed in mortars un-
der sealed and water immersed conditions, leading to the expansion of mortars. The findings of
this study could help to control the volume deformation of mortars with SSA.

1. Introduction
The sewage sludge ash (SSA) is the residue of wastewater sludge after incineration treatment. SSA can be recycled in building ma-
terials, e.g. cement, bricks, ceramic and glass, mortars and concretes [1–3]. In cement-based materials (e.g. mortars and concretes),
SSA can be used to replace partial cement. Previous studies showed that SSA also exhibited pozzolanic reactivity as fly ash did [4]. So
SSA could be used in cement-based materials as supplementary cementitious materials. Replacing partial cement with SSA is also
helpful to reduce the cement usage, lower the carbon emission and avoid the unfavorable effect of SSA on the environments.
Some studies have worked on the influence of SSA on the basic properties of mortars or concretes [3]. The addition of SSA would
reduce the fluidity and mechanical properties of cement-based materials [5–7]. The porosity of cement-based materials was increased
if SSA was added [8–10]. So the addition of SSA also influences the durability of mortars and concretes, such as carbonation, chloride
resistance and freeze-thaw performance [8]. The negative influence of SSA on the properties of mortars or concretes could be reme-
died by several methodologies, such as using nano-materials, improving cement content, refining the SSA particles, etc. [4,11]. The
addition of SSA also influences the volume deformation of mortars and concretes. Tay found that the drying shrinkage of concrete was

* Corresponding author. College of Civil Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, 310023, China.
E-mail address: yangyang@zjut.edu.cn (Y. Yang).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jobe.2022.105720
Received 17 June 2022; Received in revised form 16 November 2022; Accepted 7 December 2022
Available online 10 December 2022
2352-7102/© 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
C. Gu et al. Journal of Building Engineering 65 (2023) 105720

slightly reduced with the increase of SSA content [12]. The drying shrinkage decreased from 855 με to 765 με when 20% cement was
replaced by SSA. But Sasaoka et al. found that the drying shrinkage of concrete with 10% SSA was about 1.5 times to that of control
concrete [13]. Chen et al. also found that the replacement of 20% cement with SSA enlarged the drying shrinkage of mortars by about
25%, and SSA with smaller size resulted in higher drying shrinkage [4,14]. Li et al. tried to recycle SSA in cement mortars. They also
found that the drying shrinkage of mortars was increased due to the presence of SSA [15].
Because of the different composition of wastewater sludge and the different treatment methods, some SSA may contain high con-
tent of sulfates [5,7]. The sulfates in cement-based system may cause the problem of volume instability to cement-based materials,
and would make the volume deformation of cement-based materials more sensitive to the environmental conditions. Garcés et al. in-
vestigated the effect of SSA with high sulfate content on the volume deformation of mortars under different humidities [5]. The SO3
content in SSA was 11.1%. The shrinkage of mortars with 10% SSA and without SSA under 65% RH showed very little difference, and
under 100% RH, mortars with 10% SSA did not show evident expansion. But the study of Gu et al. showed the presence of sulfate-rich
SSA, whose SO3 content was higher than 20.0%, caused obvious expansion of cement paste under water-immersed conditions [7].
Generally, the studies on the volume deformation of cement mortars and concretes with SSA mainly focused on drying shrinkage,
and very few studies were concerned about the autogenous shrinkage and volume deformation under other environments. The envi-
ronmental conditions would show significant influence on the volume deformation of cement mortars and concretes with SSA, espe-
cially for SSA with high sulfate contents. In order to control the volume deformation and reduce the cracking risk of cement-based
materials with SSA, this study aimed to reveal the influence of environmental conditions on the volume deformation of cement mor-
tars with SSA, and tried to uncover the micro-mechanism of volume deformation of mortars with SSA. In this study, mortars with dif-
ferent SSA contents (0%, 5%, 10% and15%) were prepared, and the effect of SSA contents on fluidity and compressive strength of
mortars were studied. Moreover, the length changes of mortar specimens with SSA under different environmental conditions (drying
condition, sealed condition and immersion in water) were measured, and the micro-mechanism on the volume deformation of mor-
tars with SSA was also studied with isothermal calorimetry, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and thermogravimetry (TG).

2. Materials and methods

2.1. Materials
The raw materials used in this study included cement, SSA, sand and water. The cement was P·O42.5 ordinary Portland cement
[16]. SSA was provided by a sludge incineration plant in China. The sewage sludge was firstly pre-treated with acidulating agents and
flocculating agents, in order to improve the dewatering ability. Then, the pre-treated sewage sludge was dewatered by plate-frame
pressure filtration. The water content in sewage sludge could be reduced to below 50% after going through these two procedures. Af-
ter that, the dewatered sewage sludge was crushed into small pieces and was incinerated at a temperature of 850 °C. After incinera-
tion, the organic matters in sewage sludge were burnt, and SSA was collected. The chemical compositions of cement and SSA are
shown in Table 1. The particle size distributions of cement and SSA are shown in Fig. 1. ISO standard sand was used as fine aggregate
in mortars. The quality of sand met the requirements in ISO 679 [17], and the fineness modulus was 2.2.
The proportions of mortars are shown in Table 2. SSA was used to replace 5%, 10% and 15% of cement. The water to binder ratios
were 0.4, 0.5 and 0.6, and the sand to binder ratio was 3.0.

2.2. Test methods

The fluidity tests were conducted according to GB/T 2419 [18]. After mixing, the fresh mortars were cast in a conical mold on
flow table. After casting, the mold was removed, and then the flow table was jumped for 25 times. The average value of the diameters
in two directions that are perpendicular to each other was taken as the fluidity of mortar.
The compressive strength tests were conducted based on GB/T 17671 [19]. Specimens with a size of 40 mm × 40 mm × 160 mm
were prepared, and were demolded at 1d. Then they were cured in water at 20 ± 1 °C. At ages of 3d, 7d, 28d and 90d, the specimens
were broken into two halves with three-point bending, and the compressive strengths were tested on two halves of specimens. The
compression area was 40 mm × 40 mm and the loading rate was 2.4 ± 0.2 kN/s. When performing the tests, the room temperature
and humidity was controlled at 20 ± 2 °C and 60 ± 5% respectively.
The volume deformation under sealed condition, i.e. the autogenous shrinkage, was measured based on ASTM 1698 [20]. The
mortars were cast in corrugated plastic tubes. The length change of the corrugated plastic tube was measured with displacement sen-
sors. The curing temperature of specimens was controlled at 20 ± 2 °C. The volume deformation under drying condition, i.e. the dry-
ing shrinkage, was measured according to ASTM C596 [21]. The size of the specimens was 25 mm × 25 mm × 285 mm. The speci-
mens were demolded at the age of 1d, and immersed in water at 20 ± 2 °C for 2 days. Then the specimens were put in an environ-
ment with a temperature at 20 ± 3 °C and a relative humidity at 50 ± 4%. The length changes of specimens were measured with dis-
placement sensors. The volume deformation of mortars immersed in water was measured based on ASTM C452 [22]. All specimens
were immersed in water with a temperature at 20 ± 2 °C from the age of 1 day. The size of the specimens was

Table 1
The chemical compositions of cement and SSA (%).

CaO SiO2 Al2O3 Fe2O3 SO3 P2O5 MgO Na2O

Cement(wt%) 55.1 21.4 6.3 4.3 2.4 – 2.8 0.2

SSA(wt%) 33.2 12.8 7.0 15.9 23.2 3.6 0.9 0.9

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Fig. 1. Particle size distributions of cement and SSA.

Table 2
Mix proportions of mortars.

Cement/g SSA/g Sand/g Water/g

Control-0.4 450 0 1350 180

5%SSA-0.4 427.5 22.5 1350 180
10%SSA-0.4 405 45 1350 180
15%SSA-0.4 382.5 67.5 1350 180
Control-0.5 450 0 1350 225
5%SSA-0.5 427.5 22.5 1350 225
10%SSA-0.5 405 45 1350 225
15%SSA-0.5 382.5 67.5 1350 225
Control-0.6 450 0 1350 270
5%SSA-0.6 427.5 22.5 1350 270
10%SSA-0.6 405 45 1350 270
15%SSA-0.6 382.5 67.5 1350 270

25 mm × 25 mm × 285 mm, and the comparator was used to measure the length change of the specimens from 1d to 28d. The de-
tailed test methods were the same as that used in Ref. [9].
Isothermal calorimetry was applied to study the early age hydration process of mortars. The paste without sand was used as sam-
ples, and the tests were performed at 20 °C under sealed condition, with a TAM air isothermal calorimeter. XRD and TG analysis were
applied to detect the formation of ettringite in mortars. The generation of ettringite significantly influences the volume deformation
of the mortars. The paste powders were used as samples for XRD and TG analysis. The pastes were demolded at 1d, and then were
cured in water at 20 ± 2 °C for the designated ages. Then the paste specimens were crushed into pieces and immersed in acetone to
terminate the cement hydration. After that, they were ground into powders and dried in a vacuum oven with a temperature at 50 °C
for 3 days before the XRD and TG/DSC analysis. XRD analysis was conducted on paste powders with a PANalytical X'Pert PRO powder
diffractometer and a Cu Kα radiation source. The scan range was 5°–80°, the scan rate was 5°/min, the working voltage was 40 kV and
working current was 30 mA. TG analysis was performed with Mettler-Toledo TGA 2. The temperature range was from 40 °C to 300 °C,
and the heating rate was 10 °C/min.

3. Results and discussions

3.1. Fluidity and compressive strength
The fluidity of mortars with different water to binder ratios and SSA contents are shown in Fig. 2. The addition of SSA reduced the
fluidity of mortars. For instance, when the water to binder ratio was 0.6, the addition of 5%, 10% and 15% of SSA reduced the fluidity
of mortar from 293 mm to 287 mm, 266 mm and 247 mm, respectively. Compared to cement particles, SSA particles are more porous
[5,10]. During mixing, more water was absorbed by SSA. So the fluidity of mortars decreased with the increase in SSA content.
The compressive strength of mortars with different water to binder ratios and SSA content at different ages are shown in Fig. 3.
The addition of SSA reduced the compressive strength of mortars. When the water to binder ratio was 0.4, the compressive strength at
3d reduced by 5.8%, 8.2% and 14.3% respectively, when 5%, 10% and 15% SSA were added. At the age of 90d, the reductions of
compressive strength caused by the addition of 5%, 10% and 15% SSA were 2.1%, 5.1% and 9.8% respectively. Generally, addition of
up to 15% SSA reduced the compressive strength by less than 15.0% at 3d, and less than 10.0% at 90d. When the water to binder ra-

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Fig. 2. Influence of SSA on the fluidity of mortars.

Fig. 3. Influence of SSA on the compressive strength of mortars.

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tios were 0.5 and 0.6, the effect of SSA content on the compressive strength of mortars were similar to that when water to binder ratio
was 0.4. The low reactivity of SSA was the reason for the compressive strength reduction of mortars [4]. Besides, the presence of SSA
normally enlarges the porosity of cement-based materials, so the strength decreased [10].

3.2. Autogenous shrinkage

The influence of SSA on autogenous shrinkage of mortars with different water to binder ratios are shown in Fig. 4. The positive
values mean the expansive strain, and the negative values mean the shrinkage strain. Generally, the autogenous shrinkage of mortars
showed a similar trend under different water to binder ratios. The mortar shrank rapidly during 5h–10h after the final setting, and
then expanded for about 1.5d–4.5d. After that, the mortar shrank again, and the shrinkage strain became stable after about 21d. Gen-
erally, the development of autogenous shrinkage of mortars can be divided into three stages: initial rapid shrinkage stage in hours, ex-
pansion stage in several days and gradual shrinkage stages afterwards.
The addition of SSA resulted in more pronounced expansion period of mortars at early ages (i.e. before 5d). Taken mortars with
water to binder ratio at 0.4 as an example, the addition of SSA reduced the strain of the rapid shrinkage at very early age. The maxi-
mum shrinkage strains for mortars with 0%, 5%, 10% and 15% SSA before 1d were −170 με, −75 με, −55 με and −35 με respectively.
Moreover, for the expansion stage, the addition of SSA prolonged the expansion duration and enlarged the expansion strain of mor-
tars. The expansion durations for mortars with 0%, 5%, 10% and 15% SSA were about 1.3d, 2.5d, 3.4d and 4.5d respectively, and the
expansion strains were 45 με, 67 με, 88 με and 107 με respectively. The expansion of mortars can be explained by two reasons: (1) the
formation of ettringite. SSA contains high content of SO3, which can react with calcium aluminate hydrate and generate ettringite [7].
(2) the early age hydration heat release. The hydration heat release will lead to the temperature rise in the specimen [23]. But in this
study, the temperature rise in specimens of autogenous shrinkage tests was always within 1 °C according to our trial test results. The
thermal expansion coefficient of cement mortars was normally 10–12 με/°C [24]. So the early age expansion caused by hydration heat
release should be about 10 με, which was much smaller than the detected early age expansion in autogenous shrinkage tests, espe-
cially for mortars with SSA. Hence, the formation of ettringite was considered to be the main reason for the early age expansion of
mortars during the autogenous shrinkage tests.
After the expansion, due to the continuous hydration, the internal RH in mortars continued reducing, and thus the mortars shrank
again [25]. The shrinkage strains from the age at the expansion peak to 28d of mortars with 0%, 5%, 10% and 15% SSA were 154 με,
115 με, 80 με and 52 με, respectively. It implied the presence of SSA also reduced the late-age autogenous shrinkage of mortars. At
28d, the autogenous shrinkage of mortars with 0%, 5%, 10% and 15% SSA were −279 με, −125 με, −48 με and 19 με, respectively.
The addition of SSA could compensate the autogenous shrinkage of mortars.

Fig. 4. Influence of SSA on the autogenous shrinkage of cement mortars.

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The influence of water to binder ratio on the autogenous shrinkage of mortars with different SSA contents is shown in Fig. 5. The
control mortar with lower water to binder ratio showed higher autogenous shrinkage, which was consistent with the results in most
literatures [26,27]. But for mortars with SSA, the autogenous shrinkage of mortars with SSA was enlarged at higher water to binder
ratio. When SSA content was 15%, the 28d strain of mortar with water to binder ratio at 0.4 was 19 με and it was −70 με for mortar
with water to binder ratio at 0.6. It indicated that the expansion caused by ettringite generation was more pronounced in mortars
with low water to binder ratio. The mortar with water to ratio at 0.6 has a higher porosity, and thus some of the generated ettringite
filled in the pores first and resulted in lower expansion [28]. While, the mortar with water to binder ratio at 0.4 has a denser mi-
crostructure, so the formation of ettringite will cause higher expansion stress in the mortar, and resulted in more pronounced expan-
sion [29].

3.3. Drying shrinkage

The influence of SSA contents on the drying shrinkage of mortars is show in Fig. 6. The mortars shrank fast from 3d to about 10d,
and then the development of drying shrinkage became slower. Under drying condition, due to lack of water supply, the formation of
ettringite was limited, so mortars did not show any expansion [30]. After 21d, the drying shrinkage was almost stable. The presence
of SSA enlarged the drying shrinkage of mortars. For instance, when the water to binder ratio was at 0.4, the drying shrinkage of mor-
tars with 0%, 5%, 10% and 15% SSA were −611 με, −668 με, −726 με and −724 με, respectively. The water evaporation from mortar
to environment was the reason for drying shrinkage, and normally the mortars with higher porosity exhibited higher drying shrinkage
[31]. The addition of SSA resulted in more significant porosity increase for mortars with higher water to binder ratio [7,10]. In addi-
tion, when the water to binder ratio was higher, the enlargement of drying shrinkage resulted from the addition of SSA was more re-
markable. Compared with control mortars with water to binder ratios at 0.4, 0.5 and 0.6, the drying shrinkage of 15%SSA mortars
was increased by 162 με, 261 με and 313 με respectively.
The influence of water to binder ratio on drying shrinkage of mortars with different SSA contents at 28d is shown in Fig. 7. The
mortars with a higher water to binder ratio showed a higher drying shrinkage. When the SSA contents was higher, the effect of water
to binder on drying shrinkage was more significant.

3.4. Deformation in water

The volume deformations of mortars immersed in water were shown in Fig. 8. The results were different from the autogenous and
drying shrinkage. Before about 7d, the mortars showed rapid expansion, and more SSA resulted in more significant expansion. The
mortars would absorb water when immersed in water, which caused expansion [32]. In addition, under the condition of water immer-

Fig. 5. Influence of water to binder ratio on the autogenous shrinkage of mortars.

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Fig. 6. Influence of SSA on the drying shrinkage of cement mortars.

Fig. 7. Influence of water to binder ratio on drying shrinkage of mortars at 28d

sion, the water supply in mortar was sufficient, so more ettringite could be generated when more SSA was added in mortars. When the
water to binder ratio was 0.4, at 7d, the expansive strains of mortars with 0%, 5%, 10% and 15% SSA were 60 με, 77 με, 104 με and
128 με respectively. After 7d, the expansive strains of mortars became almost constant.
The influence of water to binder ratio on the volume deformation of mortars in water is shown in Fig. 9. Generally, the raise of wa-
ter to binder ratio reduced the expansion of mortars in water, and the influence was more significant when the SSA content was
higher. More SSA in mortar caused higher expansion at a lower water to binder ratio. The mortar with a water to binder ratio at 0.4
has denser microstructure, so the formed ettringite would cause more significant expansion [29].

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Fig. 8. Influence of SSA on the deformation of mortars in water.

Fig. 9. Influence of water to binder ratio on the deformation of mortars in water at 28d

3.5. Early age hydration heat release

The early age hydration heat release and heat flow of pastes with water to binder ratio at 0.5 were shown in Fig. 10. With the pres-
ence of SSA, the early age heat release reduced. At the age of 168h, the cumulative hydration heat release was reduced from 325 J/g
to 239 J/g. The hydration heat release rates were almost the same before the age of 11h for all mortars, and the first peak was at
about 12–13h. Generally, the hydration heat flow peak was reduced when SSA was added. After the first peak, the hydration heat re-
lease rate began to decrease, and then a second peak could be observed for control, 5%SSA and 10%SSA mortars. This peak was con-
sidered as the “sulfate depletion peak” [33], which was resulted from the dissolution of tricalcium aluminate (C3A) and the acceler-
ated precipitation of ettringite [34]. The peak was influenced by the sulfate content in cement-based materials [35]. This peak will oc-
cur later and became less noticeable when more soluble sulfate was presented. So when 10%SSA was added, the second peak moved

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Fig. 10. Hydration heat release of pastes with and without SSA.

from 22 h to 96 h and became much less evident. For mortar with 15% SSA, the second peak was not observed before 168h, which im-
plied excess sulfate was existed. The delayed “sulfate depletion peak” indicated that more ettringite was formed, and thus the expan-
sion of mortars with higher SSA contents was more pronounced during the autogenous shrinkage tests.

3.6. Hydration products

The XRD patterns of pastes (water to binder ratio at 0.5) with 0% and 15% SSA at 7d and 28d were shown in Fig. 11. The crys-
talline hydration products in SSA blended cement pastes are mainly calcium hydroxide and ettringite. It was quite obvious that ettrin-
gite was formed in cement paste with SSA, while in control cement paste, much less ettringite was formed, but AFm can be found. The
formation of ettringite led to the expansion of the mortars with SSA under sealed condition and when immersed in water.
Based on the XRD patterns, it was difficult to compare the ettringite amount in cement pastes with SSA. Hence, TG analysis was
performed on pastes with SSA, so as to reveal the effect of curing environments on the ettringite formation in pastes with SSA. The
mass loss curves of pastes under different environments were shown in Fig. 12. The rapid mass loss of pastes at 60°C–150 °C was
mainly due to the remove of twenty water molecules from ettringite [36]. It can be inferred from Fig. 12 that the amount of ettringite
in pastes under drying condition was much less than that under sealed and water immersed conditions. So mortars did not show any
expansion under drying condition, while the expansion of mortars with SSA was remarkable under sealed and water immersed condi-
tions. Under water immersed condition, with more water supply, a little more ettringite was formed in 15%SSA paste than that under
sealed condition.
In addition, due to limited water supply, the total mass loss of paste under drying condition was also the lowest. The total hydra-
tion degree of 15%SSA mortar under drying condition was also the lowest. The total mass loss of mortars under sealed and water im-
mersed conditions were close to each other. Due to the relatively high water to binder ratio (0.5), the water in paste was also enough
for the hydration of paste under sealed condition.
TG curves of control and 15%SSA pastes immersed in water at different ages are shown in Fig. 13. It can be seen that, the amount
of ettringite (AFt) in control paste was lower than that in 15%SSA paste, and was increased marginally with the immersion age. So the
expansion of 15%SSA mortars were more significant than the control mortar when immersed in water. The amount of ettringite in
15%SSA paste increased a lot from 7d to 28d, while during this period, obvious expansion was not observed. At late age, the formed
ettringite might not exhibit oriented growth, which did not cause obvious expansion [37]. Further studies are still needed to reveal
the ettringite formation process and the associated expansion behavior of cement-based materials with SSA.

Fig. 11. XRD patterns of pastes with 0% and 15% SSA at 7d and 28d (water to binder ratio at 0.5).

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Fig. 12. TG curves of pastes with 15% SSA at 28d under different environments.

Fig. 13. TG curves of Control and 15%SSA pastes at different ages.

TG curves of 15%SSA pastes with water to binder ratios at 0.4 and 0.5 at 28d are show in Fig. 14. TG analysis was not performed
on pastes with water to binder ratio at 0.6 due to the serious bleeding when preparing the samples. Fig. 14 showed that the more et-
tringite was formed in 15%SSA paste with water to binder ratio at 0.5. More water and more pore space are benefit for the formation
of ettringite [37]. Due to the dense microstructure of mortars with water to binder ratio at 0.4, the less ettringite caused more signifi-
cant expansion [29].

Fig. 14. TG curves of 15%SSA mortars with different water to binder ratios at 28d

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4. Conclusions
In this paper, the fluidity and compressive strength of mortars with SSA were studied, the effect of environmental conditions on
the volume deformation of mortars with SSA was investigated, and the micro-mechanism was preliminarily studied. The main conclu-
sions are as follows:
(1) The addition of up to 15% SSA reduced the fluidity of mortars. The reduction was more pronounced when the water to binder
ratio was higher. The addition of up to 15% SSA also slightly reduced the compressive strength of mortars. The compressive
strength reduction was less than 15.0% at 3d and less than 10.0% at 90d.
(2) Under sealed condition, the autogenous shrinkage of mortars developed very fast during 5 h–10 h after the final setting.
Then, the mortars started to expand for about 1.5d–4.5d. The addition of SSA prolonged the expansion duration and enlarged
the expansion strain, and the expansion was more pronounced when the water to binder ratio was lower. After expansion, the
mortars continued to shrink. The 28d autogenous shrinkage of mortars with SSA was reduced when SSA content was higher
and the water to binder ratio was lowered.
(3) Under drying condition, the drying shrinkage of mortars was enlarged when SSA was added, and the enlargement of drying
shrinkage was more pronounced when the water to binder ratio was higher. The decline of water to binder ratio reduced the
drying shrinkage of mortars, and the reduction was more obvious when SSA contents was higher.
(4) Under water immersed condition, the mortars expanded before 7d. The expansion was more remarkable when the water to
binder ratio was lower and SSA content was higher. After 7d, the expansive strains of mortars were almost constant.
(5) The addition of SSA reduced the early age hydration heat release, and postponed the “sulfate depletion peak”. When SSA
content was 15%, the “sulfate depletion peak” was not noticeable before 168h. More ettringite was formed in mortars with
SSA, compared with the control mortar. The ettringite in mortars under drying condition was much less than those under
sealed and water immersed conditions, and ettringite in mortar under water immersed condition was a little more than that
under sealed condition.
The findings of this study could guide the recycle use of SSA in cement mortars, and could help to design the curing regime for
mortars with SSA. Further studies are still needed to reveal the ettringite formation process and the in-depth expansion mechanism of
cement-based materials with SSA.

CRediT authorship contribution statement

Chunping Gu: Conceptualization, Methodology, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing, Funding acquisition. Yuzhu
Shuang: Investigation, Formal analysis. Yongjie Ji: Investigation, Formal analysis. Yang Yang: Supervision, Funding acquisition.
Haixia Wei: Investigation, Formal analysis. Yanwen Xu: Formal analysis, Writing - review & editing. Rusheng Qian: Investigation.
Dong Cui: Investigation. Hangjie Zhou: Investigation.

Declaration of competing interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to
influence the work reported in this paper.

Data availability
Data will be made available on request.

Acknowledgement
This work was supported by Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China [grant number LY22E080014], China Post-
doctoral Science Foundation [Grant number 2021M692869], the Key Research and Development Program of Zhejiang Province
[grant number 2021C01060], the National Natural Science Foundation of China [grant number 51708502, 52008210], and Innova-
tion and Entrepreneurship Training Program for University Students of Zhejiang University of Technology.

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